Sushi Yoshizumi — Restaurant in San Mateo

I made it a priority to book seats for my wife and I at Sushi Yoshizumi when I made plans to visit family out in the Bay area. I was not disappointed in the least. From quality of food to flow of service, my expectations and the critical praises on various sites were met. Chef Yoshizumi was very personable and welcoming and his staff was very knowledgeable and on point.

My wife and I were booked for the Yohei Omakase (note: if you want the Yoshi Omakase course you have to let them know two weeks in advance or upon reserving your seats which would be about a month prior. Use the note section in Yelp to indicate). The otsumami course was amazing with balanced flavors from Japan and fresh northern California produce. I was pleasantly surprised with the use of finger limes, which I have never tasted, in his steamed egg squid dish. It gave texture and flavor to the dish I've never experienced. Another excellent combination was the use of a mild grainy mustard (local I believe) with the marinated young maguro dish. It was not an overpowering mustard, but its acid added balance to the savory akami. I must mention at this point Sushi Yoshizumi is not a fusion Japanese sushiya. No jalapenos, aerated creams, truffles, beluga caviar, or gold flakes (as much as I appreciate these things sometimes on other foods) are on top of things that are not traditionally linked. The use of local ingredients and flavors in no way disrupts the traditional edomae experience in my opinion. It is still through and through traditional with local ingredients lending itself as support to overarching edomae narrative.

The nigiri were excellently crafted and presented. The shari temperature was served body (or a tad under) temperature and the rice was cooked and seasoned to perfection. I appreciated the akasu seasoned rice as I prefer stronger/a bit more sour seasoned shari vs rice vinegar alone. As far as the neta, coming from the east coast I am limited to certain types of neta. I was delighted to have sakura masu (Japanese Cherry trout northern Japan), kamasu (barracuda), and akagai himo (ark clam/blood cockle mantle). The sakura masu was very tender and flavor was much more subtle than salmon possibly because of less oil/fat. Kamasu was surprising delicious as I did not know what to expect from this white fish. It was tender and midly fatty and somewhat like nodogoro or or kinmedai, but less fat and subtler in flavor. The akagai himo was out of this world. Sweet and the crunchy. The texture is what this kai is known for. The last time I had this (although I had the whole akagai) was many years ago at Sushi Mitzutani in Ginza. I actually liked the himo better than the whole clam itself because it had much more bite/crunch and it seemed sweeter. I must also make mention of the pressed saba sushi. It was delicious. I've had many pressed sushi experiences and by far this was the best. The other pieces of nigiri were excellent as well. Overall an excellent experience.

Other special mentions - The half sake flight is well worth your money. My wife ordered it with her meal and if I had not been the driving that day, I would have ordered it with my course as well. She mentioned how the flight was paired well with what she was being served. On my next visit I'll definitely choose the Yoshi Omakase course as I was able to see what the party on the time slot behind us was being served and it looked amazing. Some of the otsumami and nigiri overlapped, but they also had much more items in addition to the Yohei course. I was very satisfied with the Yohei course, but me being the glutton that I am would have made room...

If you are looking for the best sushi in Bay Area, look no further. We have been to several different omakase restaurants (where the sushi chef decides what to serve you) in the Bay Area and yoshizumi is the best among all.

Yoshizumi serves traditional edomae style sushi. He focuses on enhancing the taste of the original flavor of each fish, which is also the reason why we love this place so much. There is no fancy sauce and no fusion at all but he picks the best fish and all you need is some simple salt/soy/fresh made wasabi. This is a cozy and initiate restaurant located in downtown San Mateo. It’s easy to find parking across the street (we always park at the parking lot across the street). Currently, they check vaccination records and only accept 7 guest per night due to COVID concern, which means it’s harder to get a reservation now. They open reservation 14 days ahead of time and make sure to reserve on time(I believe their reservation opens at 0:00am).

Food: This is the best part of this place. We are always impressed as soon as appetizer begins and yoshizumi never disappoint us (even not during Japan’s typhoon season when the fish selection is limited when we came here last time). This month’s tasting menu is slightly different than last month. Chef yoshizumi changed how he dealt with ankimo and several other appetizers. (We really like the difference in its taste and texture. We had 7 appetizers and 11 sushi this night. It’s hard to list highlights of the night because each piece is like an art performance and it has its unique and distinguished umami/texture that you can hardly find it in other Japanese restaurants. Sushi Yoshiumi’s pieces may look minimal , but believe me the taste is so unique that we could never forget and that is what makes us keep coming back to this place after a while. The most impressive part of the nightis how he cut the squid to make it so thin but still with so much texture when you eat it. We (my boyfriend and me) are always full by the end of the course but we always love to try 1-2 additional sushi just so we won’t miss this place too much. I almost forgot to mention their ginger is the best ginger we have had and we always ask for so much more to go with the sushi courses.

Besides the best quality of fish yoshizumi selected, sitting in front of yoshizumi and watch how he prepared each course is fascinating.

Tips: eat each course as soon as he gives it to you...

The restaurant is not easy to find because there's no sign. However, the server came out as soon as it opened. In general, I think the food is high quality but it's a little bit pricey compared with other sushi restaurants. The restaurant was recently removed from its Michelin star and I think it has a solid reason. Since there was only one server at the restaurant, the service can be less attentive. To me it is not a big issue but I think for Michelin it is an important index. I still need to point out that the service is still top tier though.

Let's focus on the food. All ingredients are seasonal and prepared well. For the appetizers, I like the ankimo the best. The grilled 目光(Mehikari) fish was also delicious. For the sushi parts, I found most dishes to be mediocre, considering they had a Michelin star before. However, there were still several dishes that really amazed me. I liked 春子鯛(Kasugo) and 穴子(Anago) the best. The sanma and ika geso were also delicious. However, for bluefin tuna only akami and chutoro were served, no otoro. Finally, I like the melon for the desserts.

In terms of atmosphere, the restaurant location is near the train track so you can hear the horn from time to time. Also, the air conditioning could be better in my opinion especially since it was a hot day when I visited. The sake served became warm quickly.

In general, I would still say this is a good sushi place but there may be better choices around...